Stop
breaking up families: OmbudCurrent
system forces parents to surrender disabled kids in order to get help

TONY
BOCK/TORONTO STAR

Ontario
Ombudsman Andre Marin

FROM CANADIAN PRESS

The
Ontario government needs to take immediate action to ensure families don't have
to surrender their severely disabled children to the Children's Aid Society so
they can get needed care, an ombudsman's report concludes.

The fact that this has been happening is "unjust, oppressive and
unfair," Ombudsman Andre Marin said today.

Parents with severely disabled children "are stuck between a rock and a
hard place," Marin said.

Those who have been forced to give up their children should get their parental
rights returned right away and the government should give them the money they
need so they can ensure adequate care themselves, Marin said.

As many as 150 such families have resorted to giving up custody of their
disabled children to Children's Aid "out of desperation," the report
said.

Marin warned that without long-term solutions, more families will have to seek
the help of the Children's Aid Society in the future.

"Families are in immediate peril," the 44-page report says. ``It is
obvious that there is a moral imperative to act now."

The report says "governments have preferred to study the matter to
death" rather than finding solutions.

Marin launched his probe earlier this month after six families complained they
had to give up custody of their severely disabled children to the Children's Aid
Society.

After Marin announced the investigation, dozens of other families came forward
with similar tales.

Many of the children have complex behavioural problems and are physically or
mentally challenged.

"Unless something is done urgently, it will be happening not only in this
day and age, but again tomorrow and a year after tomorrow," the report
says.